ECOWAS Court didn’t know the same lawyers that ‘cooked’ MIIF Act were behind Agyapa deal – ACEP

Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Benjamin Boakye, has kicked against claims made by private legal practitioner Gabby Asare Otchere Asare-Darko on the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal.

Gabby, in a post via Twitter on August 15, called out the Civil Society Organisations for their involvement in taking the gold transaction agreement to the ECOWAS Court, yet have been mute since the Court determined the deal was not corrupt.

Benjamin Boakye in his response to Gabby’s post emphasized that not all CSOs who were against the Agyapa deal, presented their case before ECOWAS Court.

He further suggested that the ECOWAS Court would not have known that “the same lawyers that cooked the MIIF Act were the lawyers behind Agyapa”.

“Parliament that passed the MIIF act could not anticipate the trickery in the eventual sale of 49% of royalty,” Benjamin Boakye added.

See Ben Boakye’s response to Gabby below:

The Agyapa Royalties deal

In 2020, the government of Ghana proposed a deal which was meant to raise money by floating shares in a company called Agyapa Royalties Limited on the London Stock Exchange.

This deal was met with wide criticism from civil society groups and the opposition, who claimed that it was a secretive and corrupt deal that would allow politicians to enrich themselves at the expense of the country.

Later that year, it was confirmed by veteran journalist Kweku Baako that Gabby’s firm had been transaction advisors to the government in the failed deal.

He clarified that a UK-based law firm was the principal advisors on the deal and Africa Legal Associates worked for the firm.

“It is not true that Gabby’s firm got US$2 million from the deal. It is not true that his firm is a beneficiary of US$2 million. It’s not even up to US$105,000. It is the main transaction advisor that paid Gabby. It is about US$103,000. It is not US$2 million”.

One major issue that has emanated from the brouhaha surrounding the deal is the role of Yaw Osafo-Maafo’s son and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.